Pipe racker



June 13, 1939. T UMPHRES 2,162,653

PIPE RACKER 7 Filed April 9, 1937 j/zoiizas J Vin litres- INVENTORATTORNEYS Patented June 13, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to pipe rackers for oil wells and has for anobject to provide a device of this character which will enable anoperator to place the pipe in the derrick pipe rack with 5 minimumeffort, which will relieve the operator of having to swing the elevatorsout of plumb in order to latch the pipe in the elevators as hitherto,and which will reduce to a minimum the whip in the pipe or drill stem.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will beformed of a few strong simple and durable parts, which will beinexpensive to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects in vie-w the invention consists ofcertain novel details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood thatvarious modifications may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claim without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

' In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification Figure1 is a cross sectional view through a derrick showing in top plan a piperacker constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the pipe racker.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the pipe racker.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of referencedesignate similar parts in the various views, l0 designates the legs andII the girders of a derrick. The fourble board [2 spans the girders.These parts are conventional.

In carrying out the invention the pipe racker is shown to comprise acasing l3 which is mounted upon the top or the bottom of the fourbleboard and in the present embodiment, is shown as mounted upon the bottomof the board by strap hangers M which are bolted to the fourble board,as shown at IS. The casing is preferably of rectangular formation incross section and is pivoted adjacent its rear end to the fourble boardby means of a pivot stud IS. The casing may thus be swung in an arc in ahorizontal plane and is limited in swinging movement by contact of thesides of the hangers M, as best shown in Figure 3.

A gear I! is fixed to the pivot of the casing. A shaft 18 is journaledon the fourble board and is provided with a pinion l9 which engages thegear. A hand wheel 20 is fixed to the shaft by means of which the casingmay be turned about its vertical axis.

A bar 2| similar in cross section to the casing and considerably longerthan the casing is mounted in the casing for sliding movement withrespect thereto. The bar is provided at its front end with asubstantially U-shaped shoe 22 in which is placed the pipe to be racked,or which is engaged with the pipe to be removed from the rack. The baris provided at its front end with 5 a downwardly directed member 23which may be connected to means for moving it forwardly or rearwardlyand such means may be a steam engine, electric motor or other means.Also the manually operable means for turning the casing 10 and bar maybe replaced by power means.

In operation the pipe racker just described may be used by the derrickman as a platform to stand upon to enable him to place the pipe in thederrick pipe rack without much effort and 15 thus will eliminate muchdanger and hazard hitherto existing, as the derrick man has hitherto hadnothing to stand upon except the ends of the fingers of the pipe rack,shown conventionally at 24, after he leaves the fourb-le board. 20

In practice the shoe 22. holds the pipe in line while it is being pushedout from the side of the fourble board to be landed in whatever finger25 of the pipe rack the operator may desire. Then the pipe racker isswung back on its pivot to receive the next pipe. A pipe may be placedin the shoe, and the casing swung around in line with the elevators bymanipulating the hand wheel 29, and thereupon the power may be appliedto extend the bar 2| outwardly and push 30 the pipe into the jaws 26 ofthe elevators which jaws snap together and take hold of the pipe. Inthis manner the operator is relieved of the necessity of swinging theelevators out of plumb in order to latch the pipe in the elevators as 35heretofore.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplanation. 40

What is claimed is:

A pipe racker comprising the combination of a derrick, a platform on thederrick, a casing pivoted near its rear end on the platform andswingable on a vertical axis, a gear fixed to the 45 pivot of the casingfor rotating the casing, a shaft journaled on the platform, a pinion onthe shaft engaging the gear, a hand wheel fixed to the shaft, a bartelescopically assembled with the casing and of longer length than thecasing, a member connected with the bar to which may be connected meansfor moving the bar forwardly or rearwardly relatively to the casing, anda shoe on the free end of the bar adapted to be engaged with the pipe tobe racked or to be 55 withdrawn from the rack.

THOMAS J UIVIPHRES.

